Navigation

Blogs

At the end of October the kids got to paint their pumpkins and then we raked up our leaves and played in the piles. It always amazes me what fun they have doing the simplest of tasks. Who needs expensive toys when you have paint, pumpkins, and leaves? Nolan especially had a blast with the paint. He did not mind getting messy at all and plunged his hands right into the paint and wiped it all over his pumpkin with a little direction from mommy. He had so much fun he required a bath at the end.

Our friend’s Justin and Christina introduced us to a fall activity called Cornbelly’s. It had slides, a corn beach, duck races, inflatables, a huge inflatable pillow, things to climb on, games, a corn maze, a princess area, and much more. We only had a few hours to be there and could have spent much longer. Julianne loved the huge three story slide where she slid down on a sack. Lorelei enjoyed the princess area where you could dress up and play in a little house and get on a carriage.

In the middle of October our local Chick Fil A had a Superhero Night. If the kids dressed up as Superheroes they got a free kid’s meal. Since we’re all about free Chick Fil A, we dressed them up and headed on over. Batman and Robin were there to greet us and although Morgan was wary at first, he quickly warmed up to them. Nolan got his first (little) taste of Icedream and, of course, loved it and cried when Julianne stopped giving it to him. He also ate his grilled chicken nuggets and applesauce pouch. It was his first official kid’s meal.

At the beginning of September we went to the Utah state fair which is just about 20 minutes away from our house. We met our friends from church there and had a great time eating fair food, looking at all sorts of unique finds, watching a couple of shows, and looking at animals. Julianne and Lorelei loved getting to ride horses and Morgan was smitten with the baby goats and bunnies. They all got balloon animals from a clown and we all loved looking around at all the rides, lights and displays. It was a fun evening!

It’s hard to believe we started school almost three months ago, but here we are a third of the way done with our school year. We generally try to start school around 9 a.m. when Nolan goes down for his nap and we start with our calendar then we move right on into our morning meeting which includes reading our read aloud book, our Bible/Character Trait lesson, and any activities that go along with what either girl is learning for the week. Morgan loves to be part of our morning meeting, although he has a hard time sitting still for the books.

At the end of September Stephen took Julianne and Lorelei to a daddy daughter date night that our local Chick Fil A hosted. The girls got dressed up and even got to put on a little make up then went to Chick Fil A and had dinner, made sundaes, and even got to ride around a park in a limo. After that Stephen took them to walk around the mall for a little bit. They had such a wonderful time. I’m so thankful for a husband who loves his children in a way that points them to Jesus.

At two and a half Morgan surprises us every day. Some surprises are good like the information he spouts off when you don’t think he’s listened to anything you’ve said. He can sing the days of the week song, count to ten, pretends to read books by either reciting memorized lines or telling his own story, sings many memorized songs including several from the Frozen soundtrack, apologizes mostly without being prompted, prays at every meal and any other time when others are praying, recites Bible verses he’s heard, and sweetly talks to his brother because he is genuinely glad to see him.

Nolan went for his nine month check-up a couple of weeks ago. His weight was 21lbs, 2oz (50th %) and his height was actually a fourth of an inch shorter than last month which the doctor thought was actually an error in measurement but he is still in the 50th % for height. Other than fluid on one of his ears, he was perfectly healthy and right on par for development. He got his second flu shot and cried a little but was easily consoled. Nolan is moving at great speeds now. He can go from one side of the house to the other and has started going up stairs, with someone close behind.

After we moved to Salt Lake we finally moved Morgan out of the pack n play and crib and into his big boy bed (which is really just a mattress on the floor)at the beginning of September. I was expecting a few (or more) rough days and nights of teaching him to stay in his bed, but he was the easiest kid yet to make this transition. He stays in his bed, laying down, and goes to sleep pretty quickly after we put him down, which is very different from the hour to hour and a half it had been taking him to go to sleep for the past six months or so.

A couple of days before Nolan turned eight months old he started pulling up on furniture to his knees and a couple of days later he started pulling up to standing while holding onto something. A couple of days after that he started crawling forward slowly and a couple of days later he picked up speed crawling and moved from room to room getting into anything at his level. He seems to be changing daily. These days he is rarely still, puts everything into his mouth, and is very vocal. Some of the sounds he makes are “da-da”, “ba-ba”, “wa-wa”, and “mmmm”. Nolan is a great eater.